Recently, a new type of film cassette has been developed, sometimes called a film safe cassette, which has a light lock door and does not, at the time of purchase, or at the time that the film is first inserted into the camera, have a film leader extending from the cassette to facilitate film loading. One example of film employing such a cassette is KODAK.RTM. brand ADVANTIX.RTM. film. The cameras with which these film cassettes are used are known as Advanced Photo System, or APS, cameras, and the film safe cassettes for use therewith are sometimes also called APS film cassettes. Conventional film cartridges, such as 35 mm film cartridges, have a film leader extending therefrom at the time of purchase, and a brush or similar mechanism at the cartridge's film slot to prevent light from entering the cartridge and exposing film contained therein. In contrast, a film safe cassette does not have a brush or similar mechanism but instead has a light lock door that is automatically opened by the camera after the film has been loaded. Film is loaded into and removed from the camera via a film cassette door disposed on the bottom of the camera. The camera then drives the film out of the cassette and into a film spooling area on the opposite side of the camera from the cassette. Before the cassette can be removed from the camera, the camera rewinds the film back into the cassette, and then closes the light lock door. If the light lock door were permitted to be opened in the presence of light, the film inside the cassette would be exposed. Thus, the light lock door, operating in conjunction with the camera, ensures that film is not inadvertently exposed.
In a conventional camera, such as a conventional 35 mm camera, film is loaded from the back of the camera by opening a back door thereof, dropping the cartridge into the camera, pulling the film leader across the camera, engaging the leader on a take-up spool, then closing the back door. Since opening the light lock door in the presence of light can expose the film in a film safe cassette, conventional methods of loading film cartridges are not suited to loading film safe cassettes into APS cameras. Moreover, because at least re-usable APS cameras employ a small cassette door on the bottom of the camera to load and unload the film cassette, there is no back cover or back door that can be easily opened to practice a conventional loading technique.
So called single use cameras are known in the art. A single use camera is one that is manufactured and sold with the intent of being used only a single time (i.e., with only one roll of pre-loaded film) by the purchaser or end user. Single use cameras are usually made of plastic. Film is pre-loaded into the camera during manufacturing, and the camera is sealed closed. This is done by loading the film into the back of the camera in much the same way as a conventional 35 mm camera is loaded, then securely assembling a back cover to the camera by a locking mechanism, screws, adhesives, thermal bonding, etc., so that the back cover cannot be easily removed. Typically, a package (such as paper, cardboard or even plastic) is placed around the camera body so that the film cannot be removed without destroying at least part of the package, and in some cases, without destroying part of the camera body as well. Additionally, film cannot be easily reloaded into the sealed camera, at least not without removing the back cover and/or partial destruction of the camera body or its packaging. As is known in connection with such cameras, it is intended that the user return the entire camera, intact, to a developing lab for processing after the user is finished taking exposures. The lab removes the exposed film and discards the camera body.
Single use APS cameras are also known in the art. It will be appreciated that loading a film safe cassette into a single use APS camera presents special problems. The light lock door cannot be opened without exposing the film in the cassette, so film loading and final camera assembly must take place in a darkroom. This assembly involves performing the following steps in darkroom conditions: opening the light lock door with a tool or fixture, externally of the camera; driving film from the cassette by rotating the spool inside the cassette either manually, with a tool, or with a fixture, external to the camera; spooling unexposed film into a film spool area of the camera either manually or with a fixture, external to the camera, and loading the film cassette from the back of the camera (i.e., with the back cover removed); then, assembling the back cover to the camera. If the camera requires a battery, then depending on the construction of the camera, the battery may have to be loaded in darkroom conditions. Thus, loading film into a single use APS camera is cumbersome, time consuming, and labor intensive.
Usually, in a single use camera, all of the film is pre-wound into the film spool area (sometimes called "pre-loading"), and, during picture taking, film is withdrawn back into the cassette, one frame at a time. Single use APS cameras usually automatically close the light lock door on the film cassette after all of the film has been rewound back into the cassette. This is usually done by means of a film sensor or other mechanism.
No known single use APS camera has any built-in mechanism for opening the light lock door after the film cassette has been loaded into the camera, much less doing so with the back cover in place on the camera, and thus known single use APS cameras are not presently amenable to a film loading process that can occur in non-darkroom conditions.
Many cameras contain at least one battery, and most all cameras with flashes have at least one battery, such as a size AA or AAA battery. In the prior art, these batteries are usually housed within a specially created and specially allocated space in the camera that defines a battery compartment. Since the battery compartment requires additional space inside the camera (relative to the same camera without a battery compartment), the overall size of a camera with a battery compartment is usually larger when compared to the same camera without a battery compartment. Increasing the camera's overall size may be undesirable, because consumers may desire smaller cameras, and adding a separate battery compartment may increase the cost of production. Moreover, in single use cameras, the battery cannot be easily removed, or can be removed only by destroying a portion of the camera or its packaging, because the battery compartment is sealed within the camera. Further, loading a battery into a single use camera pre-loaded with film may need to be done under darkroom conditions to avoid exposing the pre-loaded film.
It is desirable to provide a method for loading film, and a battery, into a single use APS camera that is simple and relatively labor free, and that does not require film or battery loading in darkroom conditions. It is also desirable to provide a single use APS camera that facilitates a non-darkroom film loading method. It is further desirable to provide a single use camera with a battery compartment that does not significantly increase the overall size of the camera (relative to the same camera without a battery compartment), that permits a battery to be inserted into the camera in non-darkroom conditions, and also facilitates easy removal of the battery. The present invention achieves these and other goals.